


A Very (Butter)good Christmas

by Burgie



Series: Cen's Poly Pile AU [6]
Category: Star Stable Online
Genre: 12 Days of Ficsmas, Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-24
Updated: 2018-12-24
Packaged: 2019-09-26 12:44:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,512
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17141987
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Burgie/pseuds/Burgie
Summary: Rebecca helps Scott have the first good Christmas he's had since he was a kid, starting with a very sweet tradition. Rebecca belongs to Centeris2 and Anna belongs to Cindersly.





	A Very (Butter)good Christmas

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Centeris2](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Centeris2/gifts).



Ordinarily, when the townsfolk began putting up huge plastic yellow stars (there were also some silver ones), multicoloured string lights, and wreaths on every door, Scott Buttergood would grumble and glare distastefully at the decorations as he walked by them. Or he'd roll his eyes or try to avoid the area altogether.

But, seeing Rebecca grin at the sight of a giant plastic star that hung overhead as she rode under an overhanging powerline in New Hillcrest on Midnightwarrior, Scott couldn't seem to muster that old 'bah humbug' spirit. Instead, he felt a weird loosening in his chest, a weird force tugging the corners of his lips upwards at the look of pure light that seemed to radiate from Rebecca.

"Looks like it's time to start buying Christmas presents and looking for a tree," said Rebecca, the light also reflected in her voice. Scott felt himself go a little softer at the light tone in her voice, the light in her eyes. Especially when she turned that happy gaze onto him. "Have you done your Christmas shopping yet? Wait, shoot, do you even celebrate Christmas? My bad, I shouldn't assume." She rubbed the back of her neck with a gloved hand, looking suddenly sheepish. Scott shook his head.

"Yeah, nah, we celebrate Christmas," said Scott. "Well, I say 'celebrate' but my family never really... yeah. Bobby buys us presents every year, dunno if he's gonna deliver one to the Bangalow or not, but... yeah. I remember having a proper family Christmas, with a tree and everything, back when ma was alive. Since she died, though..." He sighed, and Rebecca chewed her bottom lip, guilt crawling over her at having touched a sore spot. Even if it had been unintentional.

"Sorry," said Rebecca. "If I brought up bad memories, I mean."

"Nah, nah, it's fine, you're fine," said Scott, shaking his head. "Actually... I've missed it. Getting those little presents from Bobby every year were a real highlight, back when I was still considered a Buttergood."

"Then I guess I need to buy you a little present," said Rebecca, brightening up again at the thought. "What do you want? Or should I surprise you?"

"Uh... surprise me, I guess," said Scott. "You've already given me more than I ever expected. A place to live in, safety, security, a loving, happy relationship..."

"The best sex you've ever had," Rebecca teased, referring to the tall Pandorian in their group. A blush crawled up Scott's neck as he looked away at the road passing beneath them.

"Y-yeah, that too," said Scott.

"What do you think, should we go and get a tree now?" Rebecca asked. Scott turned to look back at her, about to reply, but then saw that Rebecca was clearly talking to her steed. "I agree, get a tree now before they're all taken."

"Just some casual lumberjacking, huh?" said Scott, following Rebecca as she turned Midnightwarrior off of the main road. He still rode Sunwarrior, not having acquired himself a new set of hooves just yet.

"Yep," said Rebecca, making a popping noise on the 'p' sound. "Come on, some fir trees grow over here."

"First you stole their son, now you're stealing one of their trees," said Scott, trying not to tense up too much. He knew damn well that this was his ex-family's land that he now rode on, having ridden it many times in the past. He'd once dreamed of setting up a little barrel racing or pole bending course here, but, well, things hadn't exactly turned out that way.

"Oh, this is Buttergood land?" Rebecca asked. At Scott's brief nod, she pursed her lips. "Maybe I should've brought a larger horse, then." Midnightwarrior nickered. "Yes, I know, they probably would've been better for carrying a tree too, but do you really want to go all the way back home just so I can come all the way back here?" Midnightwarrior pinned his ears and snorted but continued on to the trees, Rebecca pulling him to a gentle stop so that she could dismount. Scott was surprised at the axe that she hauled out of her saddlebag.

"Have you been carrying that this whole time?" Scott asked, frowning at the huge tool as he parked his horse beside Midnightwarrior and dismounted. Rebecca nodded, grinning.

"Well, you never know when there might be a fallen tree to cut apart and move off the road or when you might need firewood," said Rebecca. Scott nodded. When she put it like that, it sounded so simple, like he was stupid for not having thought of it himself.

"Makes sense," said Scott. "Need me to do anything?"

"Just stand back and try not to get too excited," said Rebecca, grinning as she rolled her sleeves up and then picked the axe back up. She found a suitable tree, then swung the axe back, her arm muscles flexing as she drove the blade into the trunk of the tree. Despite the cool air, both were soon sweating, though Scott was sweating for a considerably different reason than Rebecca, trying to stand so as to hide the prominent bulge in his jeans as Rebecca armed sweat from her brow and stood back to look at the half-chopped tree.

"I can try to take over if you want," said Scott, causing Rebecca to look at him. "I mean, I haven't exactly got much in the muscles department, unlike you, but I've chopped down a tree or two in my time."

"Is that so?" said Rebecca, raising an eyebrow. When Scott nodded, she held out the axe towards him. "Alright then, have at it. It'll be good to have a bit of a rest anyway."

While Rebecca gulped water from the water bottle that she also always took with her, Scott made his attempt at chopping down the tree. The axe was heavier than it looked, and chopping the tree was harder than it looked (even with the sizable dent that Rebecca had already made in it), but Scott needed to finish chopping this tree down to prove his masculinity in front of the girl who he really liked. At least Ydris wasn't watching him.

As soon as the tree hit the ground with a mighty thud and cracking of branches, Scott straightened up, cracking his back before he armed sweat from his brow. His shirt was soaked through with sweat, but the job was done, and he felt proud of himself.

"Thank you," said Rebecca, leaning up on her tiptoes to give Scott a kiss on the cheek before she picked up the end of the tree and dragged it over towards her horse. "Now I just need another pair of hands to get this up on Midnight."

"Yeah, I think I can manage that," said Scott, picking up the top of the tree and helping Rebecca lift the tree onto the back of her horse, where it somehow sat still, defying physics. Scott frowned. "How the fuck do horses manage to do that?"

"Beats me," said Rebecca, shrugging. "A lot of things in Jorvik defy the laws of physics, I've just learned to accept it. Less of a headache that way."

"You might just be onto something, there," said Scott. "Anyway, we should probably get back. It's getting dark." What went unsaid but heard anyway was that he was getting a little antsy about being back on his ex-family's land. Rebecca only nodded and swung back into her horse's saddle, Scott doing the same as they turned their horses and rode back through New Hillcrest towards the ferry to travel back to Mistfall, and Scott's new home in the Bangalow.

As soon as they arrived home, Anna's head snapped around at the scent of pine as Rebecca entered the house carrying the tree with Scott helping her hold it up.

"You went Christmas tree shopping without me?" Anna gasped, springing to her feet and shutting the book that she'd been reading (on Pandorian recipes, Ydris had written it after Evergray and half the poly group had begged him for his secret recipes).

"Not shopping, exactly," said Rebecca as she carried the tree over to a likely-looking place for it over in the corner. "Ydris, could we get a little pot over here?" From his place at the table perusing a magazine, Ydris snapped his fingers and a little terracotta pot appeared, exactly in the right spot, filled with the right amount of dirt, and exactly the right size. "Thank you."

"She saw some decorations and suddenly, we were chopping down a tree," said Scott. Rebecca smiled after setting the tree down, nodding. Another quick spell from Ydris had the tree firmly anchored in the pot so that it wouldn't fall, no matter how many people bumped into it or how many of Louisa's cats made their way in to play with the ornaments or get into the tree.

"Yes, that's exactly how it happened," said Rebecca, planting her hands on her hips as she admired her tree. "Right, who wants to help me decorate it?"

"Might I volunteer?" Ydris asked, approaching the tree with magic glimmering around his fingertips. Scott tried not to look at it for too long. He actually wanted to help decorate the tree, something that he hadn't done since he was a kid and his mother had still been alive.

"Uh... if you make the ornaments, I wouldn't mind helping to decorate the tree," said Scott, rubbing the back of his neck. The three turned to look at him, all looking rather thrilled at the prospect.

"We can decorate the tree together!" Rebecca squealed. "Just like a real family!"

"Heh, yeah," said Scott, his skin prickling with self-consciousness as all eyes turned to him.

"I'll call the others," said Anna, getting her phone out. "A poly pile tree has a nice ring to it."

"Yeah, it does," said Scott, an odd sensation in his chest. It was... warmth. From the love of family, the love of this family that had found him and taken him in. And all thanks to Rebecca.

It took a few hours (mostly because Connie had to finish work for the day at the vineyard), but finally, the rest of the poly pile arrived. Justin greeted everyone with a kiss while Connie shyly received kisses from those he was closest to (Rebecca, Justin, and Anna), and Tor gave everyone a big kiss and a big pat on the back.

"So, we're decoratin da tree? Sounds cool, bo," said Tor, bobbing his head.

"He'll start talking normal in about half an hour, don't worry," Rebecca reassured Scott. "He's just still in showman mode."

"At least my showman mode is easy to understand," said Ydris, feigning insult.

"I wasn't talking about you but you know what? You're right, you just pepper in French," said Rebecca. Ydris huffed, but he smiled when Rebecca rolled her eyes and playfully stuck her tongue out at him.

Ydris summoned a box of decorations, filled with all kinds of ornaments including baubles, little reindeer, little bells, even some little Santas and angels. The tinsel and fairy lights were elsewhere, stored safely so that they wouldn't become a tangled mess for some unfortunate soul to untangle.

As the group began to deck out the tree with ornaments, Scott felt the warmth in his chest continue to grow. This was exactly what it had been like when he was a kid, decorating the tree with his younger siblings while his mother handed them the decorations. Bobby, as the youngest, had always been lifted up by Scott or his mother to set the star atop the tree. Scott wondered who would get that honour here. But, as his eyes misted over while he gazed up at the tree, Scott was broken out of the wonderful rosy nostalgia by Rebecca's voice.

"Scott? Will you do the honours?" she was asking, gesturing to the top of the tree with her head.

"Are you sure?" Scott asked. "I'm the newest one here, I don't wanna intrude."

"That just means that you're the baby of the family," said Anna. "Metaphorically speaking, of course."

"Huh. Guess you're right," said Scott, sinking into thoughtful silence. They were right, he was, at least in terms of the relationship, the newest, or youngest, one here. The thought usually made him feel like he didn't belong, but this time... especially with Rebecca offering to let him put the topper on the tree... Scott felt the warmth within him begin to overflow. "Yeah, I'd like to put the star or whatever on the tree."

"Great!" said Rebecca, clapping her hands together. "What are we going with this year, star or angel? Or horse, which we had one year."

"That one was my idea," said Justin, a blush rising to his cheeks as he grinned.

"Uh..." Scott hesitated, trying to remember what they'd had at home. Though, the stars had reminded Rebecca that it was Christmas, which had started this whole chain of events...

"We could always go with this," said Tor, showing them a tiny winged figurine of himself. "Look." He pressed a button on the back of the figurine, and the Christmas version of Jorvik City began to play from a tiny speaker on the figurine's front.

"Tor, and I'm trying to be very nice here, what the fuck?" said Rebecca, placing her hands together as she looked her boyfriend dead in the eyes while he grinned and danced beside his singing tiny winged self.

"Issa ornament, bro!" said Tor, striking a pose as the song finished. "New range, Bigcake said it'd be a smash hit."

"Yeah, it's... it's definitely something," said Rebecca, eyeing off the tiny thing. "Let's just... put that aside, kay?"

"Agreed," said Scott, eyeing it off. Christmas was supposed to be about family, not this commercialised thing. "I want a star on the tree."

"Then a star it shall be," said Rebecca, rummaging in the box until she pulled out a glittery gold star topper. She held it out to Scott. "There you go, I'm sure Ydris will give you a boost if you ask nicely." Scott blushed as he looked at the tall magician, who wiggled his fingers, sparks dancing between them.

"I think I'm good," said Scott. And, though he had to stand on his toes, he did manage to put the star on top of the tree. As he lowered himself back down, he took a step back and grinned at the tree, inhaling the piny scent. Tears stung his eyes, but he would never let them fall.

It was just like being a kid again, only he was an adult now. An adult, with a whole new family who loved him more than his old one ever had. Though, he did want to invite Bobby to Christmas dinner. If only because he knew that his little brother would love to have a real Christmas dinner again. Just like he had when they'd been young, back when their mother had still been alive and before everything had gone to shit.


End file.
